Gaming tokens are well known. Tokens are used in gaming in lieu of cash and usually represent different token denominations. Typically, tokens appear as molded plastic cylindrical discs (or plastic cylindrical discs) with metallic cores or are rectangular tiles and have different color combinations to distinguish denomination value. The disc shaped tokens are often referred to as chips or checks. In many casinos, these chips are of solid colors but in others establishments, these chips are of different basic colors and have radial bands of a distinguishing color which can be seen when viewing the circular face of the chip as well as when viewing the perimeter of the chip. Thus, when the chips are stacked on a playing table surface or in a chip tray, the different denominations of the chips can be visually distinguished. Distinguishing between the denominations of the chips is important since each chip represents its stated value and can be exchanged for currency. In casinos in the United States, these chips typically have distinguishing colors representing at least the following denominations: $1, $5, $25, $100, and $500.
A drawback to using such molded tokens is that manual counting is required, which can introduce a human error element into the count. Routinely, floor personnel walk to each gaming table to count the chips in the chip trays. They must, through observation of the number of stacks of a known number of chips of the same denomination, make this determination without significantly interrupting play. It would be useful to obtain accurate chip counts without relying upon the expertise of floor personnel to assemble and count the chip stacks.
Regarding fraud considerations, it has been known for players to “past post,” which means surreptitiously increasing their wager by adding chips after the result is known. It would be useful if there were a system or method adapted to detect this type of cheating. Other fraud considerations include the counterfeiting of chips. It would also be useful to prevent the use of counterfeit chips.
Additionally, casinos like to track the game play of their players for the purposes of rating the player's worth to the casino. Thus, player tracking systems have been developed. For table game players to gain a rating, floor personnel typically watch the play of the table game players over time. The floor personnel then estimate the time the player spends at the game and the average wager of the player for game hand based upon a known, estimated, measured, or calculated rate of hand play. Using this information, the floor personnel can estimate how much the player will likely lose to the casino. This amount (along with the total amounts wagered) can be used in determining the worth of the player to the casino. The player can be reward in “comps” (rewards in meals, gifts, cash back and the like), which may be provided to the player based upon these determinations to instill player loyalty.
It would be useful if the table game rating process could be more reliable and less dependent on the skill of the floor personnel to make the process more accurate and consistent. Over-compensating the player is a loss to the casino. Under-compensating the player frustrates the purpose for the program.
It would also be useful if casino and other gaming establishments could distinguish between their issued chips and chips from other casinos gaming establishments. Accepting another casino's chips typically results in the inconvenience of having to present these chips for exchange.
Additionally, it would be useful for inventory purposes if the chip amounts in circulation were able to be accurately determined. By determining how many chip are on hand and how many chip are in play, the number of the chips that have been lost or kept by players as souvenirs may be calculated.